


A Burst Of Color

by Storytelling_Sparrow



Category: Sanders Sides (Web Series)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Human, Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Fluff, M/M, Multi, Polyamory, Sympathetic Deceit Sanders, Tattoos
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-08
Updated: 2019-11-08
Packaged: 2021-01-25 05:21:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,280
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21350899
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Storytelling_Sparrow/pseuds/Storytelling_Sparrow
Summary: A symbol of your soulmate is tattooed on your body in black ink; when you meet your soulmate, it fills in with color
Relationships: Anxiety | Virgil Sanders/Logic | Logan Sanders/Deceit Sanders, Creativity | Roman "Princey" Sanders/Morality | Patton Sanders, Dr. Emile Picani/Sleep | Remy Sanders, Joan Stokes/Talyn
Comments: 8
Kudos: 134





	A Burst Of Color

**Author's Note:**

  * For [ElfArmyEnby (Hbbear09)](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Hbbear09/gifts).

> Dee uses xe/xem/xyr/xyrs/xemself pronouns
> 
> Virgil's parents are Patton and Roman, Logan's parents are Emile and Remy, and Dee's parents are Joan and Talyn

Virgil looked out the window, absentmindedly tapping his fingers against his leg. His father hummed along to the song playing on the radio, but he could hardly focus. High school was alright, filled with music and friends, but still he was missing something. Someone.  _ Two _ someones, to be specific. He traced the black ink tattoos on his arms with his fingers, first the snake and dahlia on his left arm, then the hummingbird and lotus on his right. Soulmates. He had two soulmates; which wasn’t unheard of but wasn’t particularly common either. Maybe college is where he’d finally meet them.

He was so lost in thought that it took him awhile to realize his father was trying to get his attention. “Virgil? Kiddo, what’s on your mind?” 

“Hmm? What? Oh, sorry, dad. I just am wondering if I’ll meet them. My soulmates, I mean.” The word made him feel melancholy; he wanted to know who the people he would come to love were. What they liked to do for fun, what kinds of food they liked, what music they listened to. If they’d be anything like Virgil imagined they’d be.

The car stopped at a light and his father looked at him over the top of his glasses. “Virgil, they’re going to love you. You’ll meet them soon, but it can’t be the only thing you’re working towards okay? You have to focus on school, work, and making friends too!”

Virgil nodded, running a hand through his short hair. He took a deep breath as the car lurched forward again. “I will, dad, don’t worry. I just… I thought for sure I’d meet them in high school. Most of my friends met their soulmates in high school. I didn’t.” He looked down at his tattoos again. What if he’d missed them somehow? What if he wasn’t driving towards his soulmates, but further and further away?

Patton seemed to sense his son’s worry and said, “Well, I didn’t meet your father until I was 24. I still remember the way his eyes lit up when he saw my tattoo fill in with color. He swept me off my feet, literally! He was so handsome; he still is! My Romeo.”

“Dad, gross!” Virgil laughed, and his dad did too. He loved his parents; they always had a way to brighten his mood when the storm clouds rolled in. His dad was right; he was gonna be okay. He had to have hope, right? 

“How much longer until we get to the dorms?”

“Not too much longer, I don’t think. Maybe half an hour? Then we can get you all set up!” 

Virgil nodded and went back to staring at the window. So much was happening in his life right now. He only hoped that all the steps he was taking would bring his soulmates into his life.

***

“Yes, dad, I have everything. I’m gonna fill up before I head out.” Logan said as he put the last of the boxes into his car.

Emile smiled, giving his son a hug. “Oh, I’m gonna miss you! You’ll call every day, right? And take care of yourself? Mental health is just as important as physical health, remember that. And if you need anything, anything at all, I’ll drive over. You know that, right?”

Logan let out a soft sigh and hugged back tightly before pulling away. “Yes, I promise I’ll call every day. I do know that my mental health is important; you’ve been telling me that my whole life.”

“I know, I just- you’ve never been away from home before! We homeschooled you, took you on trips, all together as a family. And now here you are, going off to college! I’m so proud of you, but I can’t help but worry. That’s what parents do.”

Logan adjusted his glasses, not sure where to look. His eyes fell on his tattoos and he smiled. They’d always been a source of comfort to him, a way to ground himself when the world got to be too much. “Dad, I’m going to be okay. I can do this. I have my stim toys and I remember all my grounding and coping techniques and I have you and dad on speed dial.”

He nodded and gave Logan one last hug. “Be safe on the road, and call when you get there okay? Bye, Logan!”

“I will, bye dad.” Logan got in his car and pulled out of the driveway. He only hesitated for a second before driving away. He was both excited and nervous, almost  _ scared _ of what awaited him at college. But he couldn’t stay at home forever. He had to live his own life, follow his own path. Besides, he had two people to meet, and hopefully they were just as excited to meet him as he was to meet them.

***

Dee sighed as xe flopped back onto xyr bed. This was ridiculous. Why couldn’t xe just do this?  _ “Just get up, you idiot, you have a dorm to get to.” _ Xe stared at xyr tattoos, lost in their patterns. Xe had always been intrigued by xyr tattoos; it was pretty uncommon to have more than one soulmate. Dee had two. One of the tattoos was a stack of books with a pair of glasses resting on top. The books covered a wide variety of subjects, from poetry to history to science. The other tattoo was simpler but no less curious; a pair of headphones surrounded by music notes.

Dee forced xemself to get up and get ready. Xe still needed to put the last of xyr boxes in the car, and drive up to the school. Maybe xyr soulmates were there. It was a bit troubling to xem that xe hadn’t met xyr soulmates yet. Xyr parents had found each other in high school, but Dee had graduated and hadn’t met either of xyr soulmates. Xe had gone to every music store, every library and bookshop in hopes of meeting them, but to no avail. College had to be it, right? Xe wished it to be true with all xyr might.

“Okay, I can do this,” xe muttered to xemself as they sat up. Grabbing a box of sketchbooks, xe headed to xyr car to finish loading up. Xyr parents had left for work for the day already but it wasn’t a huge deal since xe wasn’t even leaving the city for college.

Xe sent a quick text message to xyr parents letting them know xe was headed to the dorms before driving off. Xe took a deep breath and tried to think of who xyr soulmates might be, and hoped that whoever xyr two soulmates were, they’d love and accept xem for who xe was.

***

Virgil set down the last of his things. It had taken almost ten minutes to get his dad to leave. He knew his dad meant well, but still. It looked like he was the first to get there. The dorms were nice; he had chosen the room at the far end of the hall and hoped his roommates wouldn’t mind. He sat on the floor in the living room area and scrolled through Tumblr, having no real desire to unpack quite yet.

The front door opened a while later and Virgil looked up from his phone. A boy walked in, nearly stumbling as he crossed the threshold. Virgil stood to help the stranger, who was struggling with the boxes in his hands. “Whoa, hey let me help you with that.” Virgil grabbed the box on top and set it down onto the floor.

“Thank you for your help. My name is Logan, it’s nice to meet-” Logan stopped, words caught in his throat. Virgil had looked into Logan’s eyes and at that moment, their tattoos glowed softly before filling in with color. They each stared down at the ink, then each other again.

Virgil was the first to speak. “You… you’re my, we’re... “

“Soulmates.” Logan finished. Virgil blushed and nodded, smiling at the other boy. Virgil thought he was handsome, those bright blue eyes sparkling behind his glasses. He took everything in, not wanting to miss anything. He was tall, taller than Virgil by at least a few inches. He had some sort of medical bracelet on, and he looked utterly adorable in his black shirt and blue tie.

Logan was staring as well, which made Virgil blush an even deeper shade of red. He hoped Logan thought he was good looking, because Logan sure as hell was. Logan…  _ “Oh hell, my name.” _

“My name is Virgil, by the way.” He swept his dark hair out of his eyes. Logan smiled and said “Oh! Like the poet?” Virgil nodded. 

“Yeah; my dads wanted something unique.”

“It suits you,” Logan said, and he gently took Virgil’s hand in his. Virgil looked down at their joined hands and smiled. Finally, a soulmate! He still felt that other piece missing, but even just having Logan there felt amazing, like a puzzle piece clicking into place.

“Do you mind if we compare tattoos? I’m curious to see what mine looks like.” Logan showed Virgil his arms, one tattoo colored and the other blank.

“Oh, yeah sure.” Virgil took in Logan’s tattoo, the one that symbolized him. It was a grand piano, with music sheets spread above it. “I love that; I’ve played piano ever since I was eight. I also really like playing guitar and drums, but I’m not as good at those yet.”

Logan raised an eyebrow. “Wow, you play three instruments? That’s incredible, you must be very talented.”

  
  


“Thank you,” Virgil replied. “I really like the tattoo that represents you. Do you like hummingbirds?” Virgil showed Logan the tattoo he had of a hummingbird flitting over a blue lotus. Logan adjusted his glasses.

“I do! They’re wonderful birds; did you know that they’re extremely smart? A hummingbird's brain is larger in comparison to body size than any other bird. Not to mention, they have a terrific memory. They know every flower in their territory and how long it will take each flower to refill; isn’t that fascinating?” Logan’s whole face lit up as he rambled about them, and Virgil listened happily. So one of his soulmates was an incredibly smart nerd; he could roll with that.

“I remember something about how they represent love and luck.” Virgil added once Logan was finished. “I looked it up, to see if maybe it could tell me something about who you’d be.”

“That makes logical sense; all flowers and animals have meaning. What about your other tattoo? For our other soulmate.” Logan held out his other arm, showing a sketchbook with a drawing of a snake, an ink pen beside it.

“Seems like they’re into art. Mine has a snake too, look.” Virgil showed Logan the tattoo of a snake wrapped around a dahlia. 

“That is curious but makes sense. Snakes represent a creative life force, rebirth and transformation. I wonder when we’ll meet them. Perhaps they’re going to be our other roommate?”

Just then a car pulled up and parked. Virgil and Logan looked from the front door to each other and back again. “I guess we’re gonna find out, huh?”

Logan stood first and helped Virgil to his feet before heading out the front door. The two of them saw someone get out of the car. They held hands and waited, both of them hoping that this was their soulmate.

***

Dee parked the car and took a deep breath. Xyr nerves were completely shot at this point but xe knew xe needed to relax. Panicking would do xem no good; besides, there was no guarantee that xyr roommates would even be xyr soulmates. Still, xe knew xe had to prepare for the worst,  _ “You just had to wear a skirt, didn’t you?” _ xe scolded xemself. It was too late now, so xe steeled xemself and got out of the car.

Xe saw two figures standing by the front door. Dee looked at them and waved. The shorter boy in the purple shirt nodded in return, and the taller one in the tie waved back. Dee gulped. They were both attractive, and he glanced at their joined hands.  _ “Maybe they’re soulmates?”  _ Dee walked up to them to introduce xemself. 

“Hello, my name is December, but you can call me Dee if you want.” As xe moved closer, the boy in purple glanced at xyr tattoos. Dee noticed this and looked down, smoothing xyr skirt. 

“It’s nice to meet you, December. I’m Logan, and this is my soulmate Virgil.” Dee looked back up and met first Virgil’s gaze, then Logan’s. Before anyone could say anything more, both Dee’s tattoos glowed, filling in with color. 

Xe stared at xyr colorful tattoos and grinned. “You’re my soulmates. You’re my soulmates!!” Xe dashed up the steps and hugged Virgil and Logan, who hugged back tightly. It felt right, so right, but still Dee couldn’t shake that feeling of nervousness. Xe gently pulled away.

“Um, there is one thing I need to tell you both. Well technically two things…” Dee trailed off. Logan nodded, an encouragement to go on. 

“What is it, Dee?” Virgil asked.

“I’m nonbinary trans, and I use xe/xem pronouns. Is that okay?” Dee bit xyr lip and waited for a response. Logan tilted his head and Virgil gave Dee’s hand a soft squeeze. 

“December, that’s who you are. Of course it’s okay. You’re my soulmate; our soulmate. Nothing's gonna change that.”

Logan took Dee’s other hand and smiled. “I agree with Virgil. You have nothing to worry about.” 

The three of them embraced once more, each of them finally feeling complete.

**Author's Note:**

> Some bonus info!
> 
> Deceit’s Tattoos: A pair of over-the-ear headphones, music notes surrounding it // A stack of books ranging from poetry to history to science with a pair of glasses resting on top of it
> 
> Virgil’s Tattoos: A snake wrapped around a dahlia, its tongue sticking out // A hummingbird flitting over a blue lotus ((Dahlias symbolize elegance, inner strength, creativity, change, and dignity. They are also known to represent one who stands strong in their sacred values. Snakes represent rebirth, transformation and a creative life force Lotuses symbolize knowledge and wisdom. Hummingbirds are intelligent creatures and symbolize love and luck))
> 
> Logan’s Tattoos: An open sketchbook with a detailed drawing of a snake on it, an ink pen beside it // A grand piano with sheets of music above it
> 
> Patton’s Tattoo: A theatre mask with a single rose beneath it
> 
> Roman’s Tattoo: A Hunny pot (like from Winnie the Pooh) with a gardening trowel sticking out of it, along with a sunflower and a pink hydrangea ((Sunflowers symbolize loyalty and is thought to be a happy flower. Pink hydrangeas symbolize heartfelt emotion and understanding.))


End file.
